Do I have to warm up the car in the morning?

nope. just get in and go, unless you want heat immediately.

 

I don't. The warmup period is from when I push the start button to when I get my seat belt on and my cell phone plugged into the charger.

 

I'd never leave the car idling. It's psychologically impossible for me I think....

 

I do, I need comfort, therefore I start the vehicle before hand and I'm not ashame of it. The vehicle is at my service and not viceversa.

 

If you need to accelerate briskly just out of the driveway, plan on idling for a minute to get out of stage 1.
Otherwise just turn it on and go gently.

 

naughty.

 

For how long ?

 

During the Winter time or very cold days, about 5 minutes.....then after half a mile I'm at 62 MPH in the expressway.

 

No.

Unless you just want to drive to work in a toasty warm car, you should never pre-warm the car....especially if you park in a garage.

They build Priuses in Japan.
It gets cold in Japan.
Your Owner's Manual has an estimated 14,321 Warnings, Cautions, and Notes about everyting PRUIS, but is mute on this subject.


My Takeaway: It's not required or desired.

 

Well, the quick answer is, as most above have posted, no. BUT, -any- internal combustion engine should be warmed up before using full power. So, if you are immediately going to accelerate hard onto a freeway etc. then yes, warm it up for a few minutes. If, like most of us, you have to drive on city streets for a few minutes that will warm it up just fine.

Pistons must warm up to expand to their final operating dimensions, the oil must be warmed up to get to its proper viscosity (less so with modern synthetics), etc. etc.

Regardless of whether you warm it up or not, it's not going to cause immediate failure if you use full power when cold, it just shortens the engine life a bit, and even that may not be measurable. Unless it's a racing engine, which can crater if full power is demanded when cold.

 

Watching an aftermarket gauge, you'll notice faster warm-up when there's a load on the engine. Heat comes faster from just driving away right away, which is great for after work, when the car has been sitting outside all day and there's no way to remote-start.

 

...hence the beauty of the hybrid system, which prevents heavy engine loads by using electricity to reduce engine RPM.

 

Not if you floor the accelerator.

 

hey john, have you seen the thread where the guy says his engine doesn't shut off for 45 minutes at zero degrees?

 

I've got this Far Side cartoon image in my mind now, thank you very much: a terrific freeway, 6 hellbent lanes each direction, and a little domicile with flowerbeds, little car in driveway, hard on the edge of it.

 

2005 377K I have a home in Fresno when it's cold my wife complains so I push the button while she is getting ready. The Prius doesn't complain, it works. Hot triple digits? I've been guilty of leaving the car on and taking the key with me. Again the car doesn't complain the Auto A/C keeps the battery cool and the compressor is electric so the engine only runs to top off the battery.
Multivicosity Synthetic Castrol works hot and cold and the engine never gets more than a 60% load by design, well I found I could get it to 79% by draining the battery up a 4000ft rise and flooring it. U-Scan tool required, the engine was at operating temp long before the battery was empty.
I even left it on all night once, I expected it would be out of gas as I had just driven up 277 from LA. I felt really stupid when I realized it was running when I was watering the lawn next morning but I had gotten 39mpg on that tank 80mph.
I was so impressed I bought an inverter and wires it to the 12volt battery making the car my backup power plant for emergency. It cost $300 at Harbor Freight. I believe the car likes to work and the cab companies confirm it.


iPhone ?

 

link for the inverter?

 

iPhone ?